We're Going On A Trip

After 2 weeks of no classes and traveling around, it’s time to reflect on the school trip we took to Vienna, Austria, and Venice, Italy.

            When we arrived in Vienna we checked into our hostel which turned out to be very nice. The next day we went out to visit one of the castles of the Habsburg’s. The family was ridiculously rich and had a lot of possessions that have become property of the state now. This is due to the fact that they were forced out of their ruling and when this happened they did not have time to gather all of their things. Walking through this museum of stuff, mostly useless random things, I was baffled by the amount of money in this place. If I could sell just one earring in one of the many sets that were housed here, I would be able to pay for college, a house, a car, and still have money left over. This was truly an interesting experience. Thinking about all the poverty in the world, we have people who had and still have this amount of money that could easily solve a whole lot of problems with a fraction of their money.

            After that our group split up and got to enjoy a variety of museums. I choose to go to the Natural History museum, which was a great decision. While we were there we saw everything from different types of rock, jewels, and gems, to all types of animals. My favorite part of the whole museum was the dinosaur section. While I did enjoy the bones and cool dinosaur finds, the most fascinating thing for me was the life size dinosaur that moved and made noise. I was so entertained with it, like a kid in a candy store. We did not have near enough time to see it all but we sure tried. While we walked through we took many pictures and had fun.

            The next day we headed out toward Venice. We left super early for a 7 hour bus ride. Around lunch time we stopped to grab a bite to eat and luckily we got a wonderful mountain view. When we got there we got settled into our hostel and then headed out for a short tour of the city. This is where our guide Jan left us to fend for ourselves. Venice is actually made up of over 100 islands. This makes it very easy to get lost but in the end getting lost was a good thing. We were able to find food and get the layout of the city.

            Our next day out in Venice we visited the palace of the Duke of Venice, which again was a Habsburg. The palace is right on the Grand Canal in Venice, which made for a pretty view. This building was very ornate, just like all of the things we saw in the museum in Vienna. There was also some very pretty artwork throughout. However, the last thing we saw in the palace was the jail. This jail was a long trek but worth it in the end. Jan showed us the window where most prisoners saw the last of the outside world they would see. This was a sobering thought because even though these people had committed crimes they would not be able to see anything but the prison again.

            This trip gave me good insight into how greedy people can be. All the money in the world would not cover the price of the things I saw on this trip and that is truly shocking to me. This being the halfway point of my time here, I have come to the realization that the Czech Republic has a deep and long history that most people don’t even know about. This country maybe small but they have been through a lot like the Nazi invasion, communist rule, and dealing with people like the Habsburgs. The Czech Republic should be given more historical attention than what it is getting now. It is truly sad that in America we don’t focus more on worldly history. America is great and it’s wonderful that our students are learning about our history but there is a lot more going on outside the US boarders that could potentially affect the United States.

Heart Drop

            A three hour bus ride and we were there, Auschwitz. This is something I can honestly say I was looking forward to experience during this program. However, after being there I realized I only need to experience it once. The moment we pulled up my heart immediately sank. If this was not an eerie enough place already it was raining and gloomy, with birds flying around making their noises. We started making our way through and saw some of the most horrifying things and heard about the people’s time there.

            We made our way up to the gate into Auschwitz. Inscribed on the gate are the words “Arbeit Macht Frei”, which translates to work will set you free. This of course was a lie because most of the people who entered did not make it out. Over 1 million people were killed at Auschwitz. We visited many of the barracks that had displays of not only things that were found after the liberation but also pictures that were found of this horrible occurrence.

            The things that were found ranged from shoes, glasses, pots and pans, and luggage.

            After making our way through Auschwitz we made our way over to Birkenau, which is just right up the road. This camp is bigger than the first and had separate sides for men and women. This camp was also less preserved than the first because when word came of the allies coming to liberate the camps they started destroying the buildings and moving people to another camp. The moving of these people was known as the death march because most of the people either died on the way or couldn’t walk any further and were shot. This was due to the fact that the Nazi’s did not want any survivors to be a tell all to the allies.

            This whole experience made me reflect on things I complain about every day.

How can I justify complaining about the food I get at a restaurant that just isn’t good enough?

Prisoners of Auschwitz typically got three meals a day and they weren’t nutritional. For breakfast they got a liter of coffee or tea that was typically not actual coffee or tea. Lunch consisted of vegetable soup which consisted of rotten vegetables. Dinner was typically a piece of bread, which was mostly saw dust in order to save supplies, and jam.

Most of the time I get more than 3 meals a day and they are big meals. They are warm and nutritional. I will never ever complain again about a meal.

How can I justify complaining about my sleeping conditions?

            Most of the time the prisoners slept on the floor with a straw bed. In Birkenau, we saw the women’s arrangements, which were basically bunk beds without the bed. It was a platform that multiple women would have to shove onto and sleep with multiple people. A lot of times they would wake up next to someone who had passed in their sleep due to starvation or dehydration or poor hygienic conditions. The beds were typically covered in lice.

            Most of us let’s be honest have a twin bed or bigger all to ourselves. We complain when the bed is just a little hard or too soft. But we don’t wake up to death, or lice, or the fact that we are in so much pain lying on just wooden bunks.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”     -George Santayana

            This is a great quote that really stuck with me. In the very first barrack we went in this was up on the wall. It is good for us to remember the past no matter how horrible so we do not end up in a situation like most of Europe did. I will forever remember this experience. It left me nauseous and light headed, with my heart so far down in my chest. This is the first time I have ever experienced my heart drop.

Home Sweet School

School has always been a necessity for me. If I wanted to get where I wanted in life it was necessary that I spent the thousands of dollars on an education where only half the classes apply to my major. However, here in the Czech Republic, Czech students go to school for FREE. Free tuition has always been something that Americans have hoped and prayed for and in Europe it’s a reality. Even tuition for those of us who aren’t Czech is super reasonable here. For a bachelors in English the tuition is 750 euros which is the equivalent of $854.51 for the whole year. It honestly makes me question my school choice and how much money I am spending on college.

Here in Olomouc classes are typically an hour and a half long, which is somewhat comparable to my courses back home, maybe even a little better. One of the main differences in my course work is that I have classes back to back that don’t start until 3pm and get over around 6:15-7:15pm on Monday through Thursday. On Friday, I have class at 10:30am and get done at about noon, which to be honest isn’t too bad because then I have the rest of the day to do some site seeing or begin some travel. I didn’t get to choose my courses so we didn’t have much say on when they were or what they were, but overall it isn’t a bad set up.

As for teachers in the Czech most of them are soft spoken and have A LOT to say. It can often times be hard to concentrate on what’s going on. It is very easy to get distracted and not pay attention in the classroom because they allow you to have your phones and computers out at all times. However, we all do our best to pay attention and be respectful to the professors that gave up their time for us and often times struggle to get through a whole lecture in English which is understandable of course.

 The classrooms are set up very similar to those in the United States in that the teacher is at the front and the students are in rows of desks. While this set-up is getting less popular in most of my college classes it is a commonality here. I am studying to become a teacher back in the States and it is proven through a lot of research that most students do not learn well in rows. The better set-up is when they can collaborate with others in the classroom, not only the teacher but peers. Here you can see that learning is uniform. However, I had a teacher here last week tell us that he has the capability to take his students out to cafés and beer gardens for class when it gets nicer. Whereas, in the United States that is frowned upon, the students must stay on campus for class and there is no other way about it in most cases.

While I am enjoying the more laid back approach to college in the Czech Republic I will also look forward to my return. It will be nice to get back to outspoken teachers, who provide me with just the information I need and adapt to my learning styles. While I may not enjoy spending the thousands of dollars on school I will appreciate the American standards of schooling and getting back into what I am use to. I am grateful for this experience and am glad that I am being pushed out of my comfort zone but nothing can compare to my home sweet school.

Four Day Excursion

            This week we went on our first group field trip to Prague, Czech Republic and Dresden, Germany. It was a great experience with a lot of fun moments and also a few sobering moments. In this short four day trip we learned a lot about different religions in Europe, as well as World War II and the tragedies that went along with it.

            We started our trip in Prague and got a wonderful tour of the city. We got to see the multiple sections of Prague and hear the history behind each section. The city of Prague was originally four villages that later combined. We also got to see Charles Bridge, which is lined with statues and vendors. This is where we ran into five police office that surrounded us as we walked across the bridge. Later that day we went and had supper at Burger King (yes Burger King). This is where Emily, Preston, Cassie, and I met up with the Puerto Rican friends Emily and I had made in Salisbury as stated in the previous blog. We hung out with them for a little while at their hostel and then returned to our own to get some sleep for the night.

            The next day, our whole group met up again for a tour of the Prague Castle. It was an uphill climb to get to the castle but we made it. When we got there we started off the tour with a look at St. Vitus’s Cathedral, which was very ornate. After making our way through there we went and watched the changing of the guard. This is a fifteen minute ritual that is full of music and marching. We then continued on to the Basilica of St. George. This is a smaller version of the cathedral and had two different architecturally formed sections, one being the Gothic period and the other the Roman period.                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                          
                   

After seeing both of the churches we finally got to see the Old Royal Palace. Here we were able to see where they would come together for meetings, as well as the office spaces for members of government. In the office spaces they had painted on the ceiling the crest of all those who were at one time or another involved. The most breath-taking part however was the throne room which was also where they kept the crown and scepter used for coronation. Here Emily and I got yelled at for taking pictures, according to our guide Martin, it’s a security issue. At the end of the tour we went down Golden lane, which is a small street with little shops on either side.

After the tour concluded we walked the town for a bit and did some shopping. For dinner that night we had McDonalds (yes another American fast food place). When we got our food and sat down, Preston began making friends with a bird we now call Mr. Pigeon by feeding him french fries. We then headed back to our hostel because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. However, later that night we ended up going back to the McDonalds for cake and ice cream and to skype our loved ones because the internet at our hostel was awful.

We left the train station at 8:30 the next morning on our way to Germany. The trip to Dresden was just a day trip but we had a lot of fun getting to explore. When we first got there we got to see a beautiful Lutheran Church and learned that this is where Martin Luther started his reformation. Our guides Jan and Martin, explained to us that the Lutheran churches focused on the sermons which is why the pews were focused on a central point. This church was a lot more light and bright than the previous cathedrals we had seen. We later climbed to the top of the church and had an amazing view.

           

Later that day we went to visit The Old Master’s Picture Gallery, which is an enormous art gallery. It was floor on floor of amazing works of art dating all the way back to the 15^th century. It took us at least two hours to make it through the whole building. We could have spent more time there however we were on a time crunch. They had all sorts of photos with interesting names like “Man Holding A Black Cap”. It was well worth the time spent. We then returned to the train station for the trip back to Prague.

For our last day in Prague we visited the Jewish Quarters. This was by far the most sobering day out of the entire four day trip. The first building we made our way into was an old synagogue. The walls were covered in names, these names were of those who were killed in World War II. It was not only one floor of names but three. On the top floor there was a picture gallery of drawings made by children at the time of their experiences. Imagining what they had to go through made me cringe. At 11 years old and sometimes younger the things they witnessed were horrifying. The next stop was the cemetery, with tombstones going every which way. Here you would see rocks and little pieces of paper on the tombstones, these are the equivalent to flowers that would be brought to the grave in the United States. Lastly, we saw the oldest and still functioning synagogue in Prague. In the Jewish religion they have two separate spaces for men and women. While the men would get to sit in with the Rabbi women were typically in another room.

We then took the train back to Olomouc and I was sure glad to be back. While I enjoyed the history and culture we got to experience I missed our small town Olomouc and all the wonderful perks of it, like cheaper food and shopping. 

And We're Off!

            On Tuesday, March 8^th I began my long trip to the Czech Republic with my best friend Emily and our travel companion George. We decided we would take four days to travel before the program started which in some aspects was a great idea. However, at the same time we had some struggles that we could have lived without.

            We arrived at our first destination on Wednesday, March 9^th. The flight to Dublin was pretty painless minus the fact that it was a six hour long flight from Philadelphia, which didn’t include the hour and a half flight from Denver to Philadelphia and a four hour layover. While the flight was painless the afterward was what began our stressful situations. Emily had left her phone on the plane and we searched for it for a little over an hour in the airport until we just decided to file a claim. However we still had a wonderful time. We stayed in a wonderful hostel and enjoyed the sights and attractions of Dublin, including a tour of Jameson Whiskey and a visit to one of their historic jails. Our time there was brief but then we were off for our next adventure.

            Our next stop was Glasgow, Scotland, here continued our trials. We had already lost Emily’s phone and as you can imagine where this is going I lost mine on a bus in Scotland. Unfortunately neither of our phones are anywhere to be found. Nonetheless, we continued on not letting our bad luck ruin our time. While in Scotland we visited People’s Palace, which was a huge palace that was built so everyone could have a place to stay in a time when there was a lot of people and not a whole lot of room. Scotland has a very rich history and we were able to see this during our visit. 

            The last stop on our way to the program was by far filled with the worst of luck. This was the stop we were most excited about, London. We got to see Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater,  and much more. However, trying to do all we could in one day we jammed three days of fun into one, which would in turn cause problems. We did manage to get almost everything done, the problem was the one thing we should have made sure we completed, we somehow failed. Emily and I officially have missed our first flight and with the stress of having to find a way to Prague on time automatically made us break down. Right in the middle of the airport as we are struggling to figure what was going on we bawled. Luckily we figured out a solution and we even had a nice lady ask us if we were okay. In the end though we just had to keep looking at the positive. First of all we got to see everything in London we wanted to. Second, we made the trip up to Stonehenge which  is spectacular and ended up making our Puerto Rican friends, Emilio, Joel, Paola, and Adriana.

           
                                      

                                                     

            Finally, we reached Prague. We got here and took the four hour bus ride up to Olomouc. Our first few days were full of adventure and a lot of orientation and tours. We got the privilege of touring their city hall, as well as the university we would be attending, and the city as a whole. The fun continued during orientation week with a variety of welcome parties and fun nights out with our group. However, being the grown up college students we are we had to start class this week with the Czech language course. While this experience has been slightly stressful, it has so far been well worth it.